tadros Posted July 16, 2013 Share Posted July 16, 2013 Hi-One of my chickens,Cleo, just over a year old, has been gradually losing feathers..first the downy ones from her underneath, and now from her legs and parts of her chest. I've searched thoroughly for mites and found none. The other 2 hens are fine. Cleo used to be 'the boss' so I assumed she was pulling out her own feathers...however lately one of the other 2 has started pecking at her..she makes her squawk loudly although not so often and doesn't seem to be pulling out feathers or even pecking in the areas her feathers are missing. I have a coop with a reasonable sized run attatched, and unless I have to go out for a long period of time, they also have a fairly large area of the garden netted off for them to free-range and dust bath in. Today I came back after being out all day and noticed her bald patches are starting to look very sore and have some bloody scabby bits. I sprayed her with Johnsons anti-pek spray but when I do this she tends to poke at herself with her beak all the more. I feed them on layers pellets, and they eat SO much of them...I had read somewhere they should have a large handful of these each a day but they eat far more than this and every time I step into the garden they rush towards me in expectancy! Can anyone advise me what I could do to stop this? Many thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mollyripkim Posted July 16, 2013 Share Posted July 16, 2013 Hi, sorry to hear you are having problems, have you checked your coop for red mite as these come out to feed on the girls at night. Trouble is that once one is under the weather the others will take advantage and pick on her, you can get an anti peck spray which might help. It might just be that she has had a very heavy first moult (one of my girls did that) so you could try an additive tonic to their food. With regards to their food I think most people let the girls have constant access to food all day. Hopefully someone with more experience will be along, it's definitely a learning curve. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tadros Posted July 16, 2013 Author Share Posted July 16, 2013 Hi thanks for your advice...i will try filling the food hopper to the brim & just let them eat whenever they like, even if they do gobble the whole lot..perhaps they will feel less 'stressed' and hopefully less inclined to peck eachother or self harm. I will do that tomorrow and will get a tonic too. She started losing feaathers when the weather was still very cold, and I have tried spraying coop with mite spray and lifting the flooring and perch out but found nothing, so I'm guessing its not that especially as the others are fine. I have some mite powder as a precaution too..will try to use it more regularly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
